Intelligence: Briefs

Banyan Performs Demate

Since 2002, Banyan Air Service has been an authorized Pilatus Satellite Service Center and the company’s turbine maintenance department recently performed its first 10-year Pilatus demate. According to a company spokesperson, the project required extensive special tooling and custom fabrication of wing shoring. During the past year, Banyan serviced more than 50 Pilatus aircraft, exceeding 195 work orders for Pilatus avionics and maintenance.

Landmark To Be Sold

Landmark Aviation maintains FBOs at more than 30 airports in North America and also offers MRO services. The company is controlled by The Carlyle Group, an investment firm that plans to sell the company to Dubai Aerospace Enterprise. Details of the sale are being worked out. Landmark Aviation’s sales are estimated to be more than $100 million and it employs more than a thousand people.

Cessna Launches LSA

The specifics regarding the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) program was unveiled at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Air Venture in Oshkosh late in July, a few days after this magazine went to print. However, according to Cessna’s President and CEO Jack J. Pelton, "We have developed a business case that makes sense; we have incorporated several innovative features into the design."

Duncan’s New Ventures

The company announced that its parts, components and services (PCS) area is now ready to assist jet, turbine and piston-powered aircraft operators with any part or component need. PCS streamlined its operations and the staff is available 24/7 to provide exchanges, rotables, parts, consumables, avionics and more.

Foreign Repair Reliable

According to testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety and Security regarding the oversight of foreign contract maintenance, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association’s (ARSA) Managing Director and General Counsel Marshall S. Filler said, "The fact remains that foreign repair stations are subject to a tremendous amount of oversight by regulators, their customers and other entities." According to ARSA, the location of aviation work may vary, but the quality does not.

Embraer’s Lineage 1000

The company signed Grupo Omnilife de México for a Lineage 1000 jet. The aircraft will be operated by the company’s air taxi services subsidiary, Omniflys. This will be the first Lineage 1000, Embraer’s ultra-large executive jet, in Mexico. The Lineage is expected to enter service in mid-2008 and delivery is expected in December 2009.

Dallas Airmotive’s PW500

The company added the repair, hot section inspection and field service on the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW500 engines at its Millville, New Jersey Regional Turbine Center. This location in southern Jersey is on Millville Municipal Airport, making it convenient for fly-ins.

Shortcuts Lead to Crash

An Australian Royal Navy Sea King on earthquake relief operations in Sumatra two years ago, crashed primarily because of an incorrectly installed nut. Official investigation found an "embedded culture" of shortcuts in the Australian navy’s maintenance practices.